Dirt pile generates a bunker mentality

Town of Ft. Sheridan wants its golf course

Residents of an exclusive subdivision on the Lake Michigan shoreline expected a golf course to be located just a chip shot from their multimillion-dollar homes.

But instead of picturesque greens and lush fairways, the residents of the Town of Ft. Sheridan in Highland Park see a nearly 40-foot mound of dirt where the first hole might have been located.

Residents say "Dirt Mountain," as they call it, symbolizes a giant snub of the doctors, engineers, bankers, lawyers and others who live in the 500-home subdivision.

They expected construction of a state-of-the-art golf layout to replace an old military course the Lake County Forest Preserve District bulldozed two years ago, but the project has been delayed by finger-pointing between the subdivision developer and the forest district, which owns the property.

Now, the giant dirt pile is at the center of a lawsuit filed last month against the developer by the district, which contends that the dirt mound, debris from the construction of the subdivision, is preventing district officials from completing the public golf course.

The developer was supposed to move the material, according to the lawsuit. But the developer contends that it's the district's responsibility to move the dirt mound, a project with an estimated cost of $4 million.

Frustrated residents of Town of Ft. Sheridan, where condos go for $400,000 and single-family homes can top $2 million, say the real reason for the delay is class envy.

"It's just that some members of the board can't stand the idea of building a beautiful golf course in deep southeast Lake County, which tends to be wealthier than other parts of the county," said Henry Torn, whose home overlooks what was supposed to be the 10th hole.

Why else, Torn and other residents argue, would forest preserve officials ignore repeated requests for the district to remove the dirt to allow the golf course project to move forward?

"All their excuses are just hogwash," said Howard Weisbart, a dentist. "I think a certain number of people who live here now feel that a lot of the forest preserve commissioners really couldn't care less what happens here."

While some forest preserve officials have questioned the merits of building an expensive golf course with green fees as high as $100 per round, they deny that those concerns have sandbagged it.

The district operates three other public courses, where fees range from $21 at Brae Loch Golf Club in Grayslake to $80 for prime-time play at ThunderHawk Golf Club in Beach Park.

"Really, the issue right now revolves around the dirt pile," said Tom Hahn, the district's executive director. "The deed restriction we have in our conveyance of the property includes that we put a golf course in there. We've never wavered from that plan."

The hope, he said, is that the lawsuit will lead to the removal of the dirt, which accumulated on the old golf course between 1999 and 2003.

"We filed the lawsuit as a last resort," Hahn said. "The dirt pile sitting there isn't only a financial impediment to the golf course, it's a physical impediment. It sits right where several holes were going to be built."

The district gave permission to the developer, Town of Ft. Sheridan Co., to temporarily park the debris on the golf course while builders plowed the ground for the subdivision.

District officials say the developer agreed to remove the dirt and grade the site so the new golf course could be ready for play in 2004.

But after months of unsuccessful negotiation, forest preserve officials sued the developer.

Attempts to reach the developer for comment were unsuccessful.

The developer has until Dec. 1 to respond to the lawsuit, filed in Lake County Circuit Court.

The district operated a public golf course at the site for a few years after the Army deeded it 259 acres when the base closed in 1993.

Although the property was estimated to be worth $45 million, the forest preserve got it in 1998 for around $2 million with the stipulation that it would be maintained as a golf course.

In October 2003, however, the district bulldozed the course, citing irrigation, maintenance and infrastructure problems. But officials promised to rebuild it as a championship course with a visitor center and clubhouse overlooking Lake Michigan.

"We thought that was a positive move toward upgrading the course," Weisbart said. "But the fact is they dismantled a functioning golf course, and now all we have is a dirt pile."

Several of the district's board members have called the golf course plan a waste of money at a time when the district should be focused on land acquisition and trail improvement.

Chief among the plan's critics was board member Judy Martini (R-Antioch), who predicted in spring 2003 that the cost of the fancy course would balloon well beyond its initial $8.8 million estimate.